It was the 'Hand of God' - Suarez

Argentina legend Diego Maradona first coined the controversial term to describe his opening goal against England after he scored with his hand in the Mexico '86 quarter final.

Argentina progressed to the semi-finals with a 2-1 win and Uruguay back then, and striker Luis Suarez has now declared himself the natural heir to Maradona's moment of genius.

His comments are likely to further anger Ghana fans, after the Black Stars missed out on the chance to become Africa's first ever semi-finalists when Asamoah Gyan missed from the penalty spot and they went on to lose the shoot-out 4-2.

Ajax star Suarez, however, remained unrepentant, although he will now miss the semi-final and possibly face further sanctions after receiving a straight red card for his actions.

"The 'Hand of God' now belongs to me," he declared. "Mine is the real 'Hand Of God'. I made the best save of the tournament. Sometimes in training I play as a goalkeeper so it was worth it.

"There was no alternative but for me to do that and when they missed the penalty I thought 'It is a miracle and we are alive in the tournament'. Suarez added: "Now we are in the semi-finals although I was very sad because no-one likes to be sent off.

"The celebration afterwards was impressive, but very quiet because nobody gave us a chance but, with courage, we move forward."